Mickey and Laden: Part One

It was an awfully scorching day in the town of Meridell,
and the heat had reached an all-time high. The sun was blazing intensely, and
not a single cloud could be seen in the sky. Most of the residents of the town
were attempting to keep cover in their homes for as long as possible to keep cool.
But for Mickey and Laden, things were much different.

The two were bored. Very, very bored.

Laden, an island Wocky, stared blankly at his
Meepit and sighed. "What do you want to do, Mickey?" he asked monotonously.

The Meepit looked up at him and shrugged. "Well,
that sure helps me," Laden said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes, and stood
up from the couch. "Let's go outside," he suggested.

Mickey slowly nodded, and hopped of the couch
and onto Laden's back. The two went outside where immediately, they could feel
the burning heat. "Holy cheese, what's with the heat today?" exclaimed Laden.

He looked around, and saw no one in sight, which
surprised him greatly. Usually, the humans and pets of Meridell were bustling
about, doing their daily chores and keeping themselves quite busy. But then,
the thought that most of the habitants most likely wanted to keep cool crossed
Laden's mind, and he was no longer surprised.

Mickey suddenly jumped off of Laden's furry back
and pointed to the park, which was located right across from where they were
standing. Laden smiled at Mickey, and simply said, "Sure."

The two ran to the park where, yet again, there
was no one. Oh well, it was better this way. Now they had the whole park to
themselves. Alongside the park was a cool stream that carried a strong current.
The stream led to the ocean outside of Meridell and into the world of the beyond.

Mickey and Laden were feeling quite hot and adventurous
at the moment. They needed to cool down, yet have fun at the same time. So,
the two decided to dip their feet in the refreshing water of the stream. They
both sat down at the edge of the stream, and slowly let their feet soak into
the water. A sear of sharp icy pain immediately flew up their spines. The water
was much, much colder then they had expected. Laden immediately jumped up, tears
already forming in his eyes. However, Mickey was so small that the pain was
too much of a shock for him. The Meepit suddenly lost his grip, and fell into
the current.

The moment was too quick for Laden to realize
what was happening. One moment Mickey was there, and the next moment he wasn't.
In a split second, Laden's eyes grew two times their normal size, and he cried
out, "MICKEY!!!"

He frantically looked around the stream, and
suddenly caught view of a pink tail poking out of the water. Mickey…
Laden thought to himself, shocked.

The young pet didn't know what to do. No one
was there to help him; he was all by himself. Knowing that he couldn't let his
Meepit's life slip away just like that, Laden wiped away the tears that had
dampened his cheeks, and dived into the freezing water. The current immediately
pushed Laden towards Mickey, making him closer to his Meepit. However, he still
wasn't close enough to grab hold of him. Mickey's face suddenly flew out of
the water, inhaling deep breaths. His eyes were wide with fear, and Laden knew
that wouldn't be able to survive for long. The current continued to bring Laden
towards Mickey, but Mickey always seemed to never be any closer. Laden was so
confused at the moment. His mind was swirling with dizziness, and his body ached
with pain. The Wocky knew that he would most surely die because of this.

All of a sudden, a twisted, wooden branch that
was poking out of a tree slammed into Laden's stomach, and flew him out of the
water and onto the grass. The island Wocky landed on his head, and instantly
slipped into the deep, shadowy world of unconsciousness.

**************

"He's going to make it, don't worry," a soothing
voice said.

A sigh of relief escaped someone's mouth. "Thank
you doctor."

This is what Laden perceived the first moments
that he woke into consciousness. His view was a bit hazy, and he could feel
a very sore bump on the top of his head. But other then, he felt okay. The little
Wocky slowly fluttered his eyes open, and immediately saw his owner, Jay, sitting
beside his bed with a smile on his face.

"Welcome back, Laden," Jay whispered, tears forming
in his eyes. Laden could obviously tell that his owner was growing emotional.
Jay was always that way.

Laden rubbed his eyes with his paw, yawned softly,
and flashed an anxious half-smile back to Jay. "Um…am I in a hospital?" Laden
nervously asked.

Jay nodded, wiping some of the tears that had
fallen. "Yeah," he softly said. "You've been here for two days. That was a pretty
bad concussion that you got."

Concussion?

Suddenly, the memories of the final events before
he had become unconscious started flooding Laden's mind. Mickey had fallen into
the stream…Laden had tried to save him…

He had not succeeded.

"Mickey!" Laden cried, jerking into an upright
position from his bed. "Where is he?!"

Jay stared at his pet for a long pause, and sighed.
"H-he's," the boy began, "...gone."

Gone.

The word was unbearable for Laden to hear. His
little Meepit was gone. Gone forever, never to be seen again. This couldn't
be happening. It just couldn't be. But it was…

Tears started to well up in Laden's eyes, and
the poor Wocky began sobbing hysterically, pain and grief churning in the pit
of his stomach. Why had this happened to Mickey? Why? He didn't deserve one
ounce of it.

Laden wept and wept for what seemed like hours,
but in reality, he wept for five minutes. The only thing Jay could do was comfort
his pet, and try to make him feel better. But of course, nothing worked. Without
Mickey, Laden felt lifeless. Mickey was simply everything to Laden…

**************

4 Days Later

It was now Tuesday, and Laden was at home drawing
more missing posters for his Meepit, Mickey. He already hung about a dozen posters
in his neighborhood, but until now, he had heard nothing. Of course, Laden still
carried tons of hope, and he would not give up until he found out whether Mickey
was dead or alive.

Laden quickly glued a picture of his Meepit onto
one his posters, and shuffled the dozen more posters that he made during the
day.

He stood up from his chair, and headed towards
the door, when suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring. "Laden, can you get that?"
Jay yelled from upstairs.

"Okay!" Laden yelled back. He swung the door
open, and standing there was Raymond, one of his friends from the neighborhood.

"Hey Laden!" Raymond, an electric Grarrl, exclaimed.

Laden did another one of his half-smiles, displaying
that he wasn't in one of his best moods. Raymond realized this. "I heard what
happened to Mickey," He nervously said, "and it's really terrible. He was such
a nice petpet, and it just sucks that he's…" Raymond didn't dare say the last
word.

Laden kept quiet, staring at the ground. An awkward
silence ensued for a moment. Then, Raymond spoke again. "Um, I'll keep you updated
with any news that I hear."

Laden nodded, sniffing. Raymond sighed, and walked
away from Laden's home. Laden gazed out into the sky, and whispered, "Oh Fyora,
please, please, please just bring Mickey back to me." A salt-ridden tear rolled
down his cheek, and fell to the ground.

Laden subsequently began walking around his neighborhood,
attaching the posters to trees, walls, and the outside of fences. He could see
a few pets from far away look at his posters, and then walk away, which diminished
the hope that he carried. But still, he continued on, and in no time at all,
he was done.

The Wocky began traveling back home, where he
prayed that someone would come soon and give him his Meepit back. Suddenly,
he heard a voice call out, "Laden, Laden! Look what I found!"

Laden swirled his head around, and caught sight
of Raymond, who was running at him with something mysterious in his hands. "Look
what I found!" Raymond gasped once more. He opened his arms slightly more, and
lying inside was…a blue Meepit!

Laden gasped, and immediately cried out, "It's
Mickey!"

Raymond stared at his friend as if he were insane.
He said, "No, no! This Meepit is blue! Yours was pink!"

"B-b-ut.."

"It's mine, Laden. Not yours."

Laden blinked, and stared at the Meepit who was
staring back at him with wide, oblivious eyes. He then noticed that the Meepit
had a big scratch over his forehead, and a few bruises on its arms. At first,
a feeling of despair entered Laden's mind, but then, heated jealousy began taking
over. All of this wasn't fair. Raymond was NOT supposed to have a Meepit, he
was! He was the one who lost his petpet, so he should have been to one who had
gotten one back! Why did Raymond get a Meepit and he didn't?!

Of course, Laden knew not to say this in front
of Raymond. All he did was calmly ask, "What's his name?"

"Well, I was thinking of naming him Imkey."

IMKEY?! Mickey thought furiously.
THAT'S MICKEY WITH THE TWO FRONT LETTERS SWITCHED AND THE C TAKEN OUT! WHO DOES
HE THINK HE IS?!

"Um, don't you think you could come up with something
more original then that? What about Yuilardo?" Laden suggested, not displaying
any range of emotion.

Raymond thought for a moment, and then shook
his head. "Nah, sounds too weird. I'll stick with Imkey. It sounds cool."

Laden clenched his teeth together, and balled
up his fists tightly. His anger was almost at its boiling point, and it would
soon surely explode into a fit of rage.

All of a sudden, a rather bizarre thing occurred.
Imkey struggled and let himself go from Raymond's arms, and jumped onto Laden's
back. At that moment, Laden could feel that it was Mickey sitting on his back.
That warm feeling was there; it was always there when Mickey was sitting on
his back.

Raymond look confused for an abrupt second, and
then quickly snatched Imkey away. "Don't do that, Imkey!" he said sternly. "You
could have gotten hurt!"

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